Please stay tuned for important disclosure information at the conclusion of this episode. Hello. Hello, I'm Susan Chivinsky, and welcome to a special episode of the Morning

Filter podcast.

Now, usually I sit down every Monday morning with Morning Stars' chief U.S. market

strategist Dave Sikara to talk about the week ahead.

But we've got something a bit different for you on the podcast this week. Instead of our usual deep dive into the market in stocks,

we're taking a step back to look at the big picture of investing. Things like how to build a

smart portfolio, avoid common investment mistakes, and time-tested principles to invest by.

I'm pleased to be joined today by a special guest, my longtime colleague and friend, Christine Benz.

Christine is Morningstar's Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning.

She's also the host of the Longview podcast, an author of the book, How to Retire 20 Lessons for a Happy,

successful, and wealthy retirement.

Christine and I are going to cover a lot of ground today, from stocks to bonds, core investments

to dividend payers, things you shouldn't overlook in retirement, and whether the set it and forget

it strategy is a good way to invest today. Welcome to the morning filter, Christine. Well, Susan, it's an honor to be here. I'm a little nervous about stepping into Dave's shoes, but we'll roll with it. We are going to roll with it, and you're going to be great. We appreciate your time. We really do. So let's talk a little bit about the current stock market.

You know, specifically, what are some of the biggest risks you think that investors are facing right now?

We're taping this beginning of August of 2025.

Well, I think the big one is complacency. When I think about investors in the U.S., we've had such an incredible run for U.S. stocks. We've had a really

nice snapback so far in 2025 after a little bit of scary times back in the spring. And it's just

been a phenomenal long-term run where when we look at the 10 and 15-year returns from U.S. stocks,

they're well above historical averages.

And I think there's a tendency to believe that it will ever be thus.

In fact, there have been some people we really respect who have been kind of banging the drum for the virtues of long-term compounding.

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